The Knight´s Legacy

In Indian Territory

In 1865 the schooner Mimosa sailed from Liverpool with 153 Welsh passengers, including men, women and children. After a long journey through all of the Atlantic Ocean in most of its northeast-southwest dimension, disembarked in the Golfo Nuevo, on the shores of the newly created National Territory of Chubut, in the Argentine Patagonia. They had permission from the Government of the recipient country to settle in the area, since the authorities were concerned about promoting the population of these desolate tracts, which were more than one decade after disputed with the natives in the tough desert campaign commanded by General Julio A. Roca. The Welsh had an ally and sponsor in the Argentine Interior Minister Guillermo Rawson.

The pioneers founded the present city of Puerto Madryn, first of numerous cities and Welsh towns scattered  throughout the territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the distant Andes Mountain Range, at the western end, crossing therefore  east to West much of the Americas at this latitude. The permanent search for land to successive waves of settlers who would be arriving promoted expeditions to the unknown and almost completely uninhabited West.

From the beginning the Welsh strove to maintain good relations and trade with the Tehuelche Indians, at a time when the standard was the conflict between white and indigenous, due to the raids or Indian attacks on the rural Argentine in previous decades, and afterwards to the aforementioned desert campaign conducted by the Argentine Government to provide security to these border towns and annexing vast areas to the national territory,

One of the latest incursions into Indian territory was commanded by General Villegas, who fought against the wild tribes of the caciques Inacayal and Foyel. In 1883, Colonel Palacios with a brigade of 250 soldiers and hundreds of friendly Indians beat on the plains of Apeleg some 400 hostile Indians, in one of the last acts of the so-called conquest of the desert

In this context, in October 1885 it starts its journey the Company of Riflemen of Chubut, composed of 29 men, 19 of them Welsh and their descendants, and other Argentine and of other nationalities. They had around 250 horses, abundant provisions and were armed with Remington rifles, a weapon advanced at that time and in those latitudes. The group was headed by Colonel Luis Jorge Fontana, veteran of the bloody Paraguay war, called the Triple Alliance. This military had also been educated in natural sciences by the scientist Germán Burmeister, and spent part of his time during the trip to the collection of fossil, mineral and vegetable samples, imitating in this regard to countless naturalists who had travelled and would have to explore Patagonia, beginning with Darwin.

The riflemen moved along by both sides the Chubut River, that they crossed once and again up to Paso de Indios. There the river diverts its East- West course to the Northwest. After arriving in Piedra Parada and the confluence with the Río Tecka, they descended to the South parallel to the mountain range, through the vicinity of the current Esquel to the headwaters of the Río Senguer, already in the South of Chubut. Along the way they passed the mentioned Apeleg combat site, recognizing the remains of the devastated Indian camp.

They inspected then the area of the Senguer, discovering a beautiful Lake to which the name Fontana, in honor of their leader.

It is this part of their journey our story takes place.

Two weeks passed the expedition members at the lakeside camp. Tomás had become in the meantime one of the explorers of the company, taking advantage of his unstoppable yearning to seek new horizons and his acute power of observation.

One day he returned from one of his trips and saw the young Indian man whom he had saved from the beast sitting in the Sun, in one of his first outings of the tent where it had been cured. Close was Vidal, one of the Argentine members of the company, veteran of the campaign in the desert of the General Roca and lenguaraz of the group, i.e. informal translator of indigenous languages. Vidal had accompanied to Fontana for years.

“How is the boy?”Asked Tomás.

“Stronger every day.”.

“Does he remember something of what happened?”

“So far only that he was attacked by the puma. But Mr. Thomas told him through me that you were who saved him. By the way, he wants to thank you.”

Thomas extended his hand to the boy who at first looked puzzled, but after  a few words in his dialect said by Vidal, squeezed warmly Tomás hand.

“Do you know how what is his name?” Asked Tomás.

“Nawelkir or Nahuelkir. He does not know what his name means, but is of tehuelche source. It seems that he is a survivor of the battle of Apeleg a couple of years ago. His family disappeared and he is hovering by the steppe since then, feeding on what he could find. If you did not save him no one would had missed him. He would have been just another pile of bones on the plain.”

“I believed that pumas do not attack humans.”

“Normally they don't, but if one is carried by hunger or harassment to attack an Indian or Christian, then they lose their inhibitions”.

Throughout the extensive crossing of the riflemen by Patagonian territory, Nahuelkir transformed into a guide and at the same time a friend of Tomás Williams, learning rudimentary Spanish and teaching him at the same time the tehuelche dialect, providing help with his knowledge of the regions that explored, enhanced by his long wandering alone in recent years.

In one of the trips Nahuelkir diverted the course of direction to return to the camp. Tomás noticed the deviation and asked.

“Nahuelkir, the camp is much more to the West, and must get there before it gets dark.”

“Trust me.” Was the short answer. “ I want you to know something.” And he went his way without waiting for the reaction of the other.

After half an hour of additional ride Tomás made out at the distance an object on the ground in the landscape, just a speck of dust rising in the immensity. The young men slightly straightened their course toward it, so it became obvious that this was the site where Nahualkir was heading. As they approached it turned out to be an isolated and precarious tehuelche tent. An old Indian man of grim gesture appeared in the hole performing as a door.

Nahuelkir and the old man looked each other a moment in silence, the boy dismounted, approached the man and whispered something in his ear who shook his head affirmatively.

“We can enter into the tent, we have been invited. It is an honor, since this man has been in the past a very respected healer.” Nahuelkir told his partner.

Tomás was invaded by mixed feelings. On the one hand he felt apprehension to get into the dwelling, of questionable hygiene according to his prior experience with the Indian villages. On the other hand his greed of experiences pushed him to try this. Finally decided that he could not rebuff Nahuelkir since it was the first time the boy had the opportunity and the will to show him something of the culture from which he came. They entered the small tent made of skins of various animals and of small dimensions; its interior was dark, and they only saw a small fire burning in the center. The two Indians exchanged a few words in their dialect, separated by long silences, while Tomás watched quietly, understanding only some single words.

The old man rose, rummaged in a leather pouch from which pulled something out that then threw into the fire, returning then to his sit. The substance produced a crackling at the beginning, and then a light and transparent smoke. The silences became longer and the words between the tehuelches rarer. Tomás felt a slumber that was invading him slowly. He noticed that his spirit was serene, since the gradual loss of control over his senses did not caused alarm but stillness. From a moment, the flow of time stopped in his mind, and the figures inside the tent got distorted. He had blurred vision of the old getting up with a knife in his hand, first coming to close to Nahuelkir -where he stopped for a few minutes-  and then to him. He felt a slight stinging pain in the right wrist, while he kept on watching the tanned face of the old man. He then looked at his wrist from which flowed a little blood. He vaguely heard that man spoke to him as Tomás watched him with staring eyes. Dialect words sounded strange to him but amazingly  understood what the Indian was explaining.

The healer made silence and then looked at him questioningly. Tomás nodded his head since he knew that he was consenting to a relationship for life.

After a long time, when the effects of the smoke in the heads of the boys had dissipated, Nahuelkir stood up and then Tomás. Without looking backwards or talk to the old man they went to their horses and rode  away. They straightened out without haste towards the vivaq, although the night progressed quickly. However, any trouble or anxiety would have been incompatible with the mental state in which they were. After a long stretch, Nahuelkir came out of its silence and asked:

“Want me to explain you something?”

“No need.”

Indian young nodded and they continued riding in silence. In the long march to the camp, Tomás was internalizing the consequences of the real life experience that had passed through. He knew that his world had built something valuable and perennial.